HUNTER: 'Party Villa' bash last hurrah for murder victim (2024)

Cops found the guy decidedly unalive in a parked Mercedes along Hwy. 6.

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The end for the as-of-yet-unnamed homicide victim in his 20s was the culmination of gunplay at a rural “party villa” where a large group from Toronto were holding a big bash.

But as is often the case, some of the party attendees brought guns. And they used them.

Over what, at this point, the cops aren’t saying. Drugs, turf, respect, women. Was it targeted? Investigators will only say the warfare was triggered by an unclear altercation at the bash.

That was early Sunday at what detectives are calling a “short-term rental property” on Hwy. 6, just north of Hamilton. When officers arrived, they found one male victim with non-life-threatening injuries.

At the property itself, they discovered two other victims fled the scene. One was the dead man in the Mercedes.

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There were about 60 people at the bash, many of whom split when gunfire erupted — and the cops arrived.

The latest murder brought to mind the senseless Jan. 19, 2021, double slaying of Christina Crooks, 18, of Toronto, and Juliana Pannunzio, 20, of Windsor, a student at St. Clair College.

Both had been shot — and then abandoned.

Crooks and Pannunzio were attending a bash at a Fort Erie Airbnb with a rep for wild parties. The cause for the revelry was a birthday.

Locals said the waterfront faux chalet was frequently beset by out-of-towners (read Toronto) who boozed and blasted their thumping music until the wee hours of the morning.

Cops have arrested and charged Scarborough rapper Christopher El Plaga Lucas, 22, and Trevor Barnett, 30, with two counts of first-degree murder, while Heidi Bahler, 29, is charged with being an accessory after the fact.

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They are expected to go on trial sometime this year.

Why the two young women were murdered in cold blood has not been revealed. Cops say they had no connection to their alleged killers.

Back in Hamilton, on a cool Canada Day weekend, detectives are busy unravelling the last minutes of a man’s life. The Hamilton Spectator reported that cops found bullets littered along a kilometre stretch of Hwy.6.

And like the Fort Erie Airbnb, there have been complaints about the property at 1046 Hwy. 6 N. Particularly during the pandemic.

So far the dead man does not have a name and police have not released any suspect information or the vehicle they fled in.

As per the Spectator, the “party villa” is sold online as the “ultimate remote party destination.” There are a slew of photos of the estate that include a pool and a pool table, among other amenities.

Cop says the property manager is cooperating.

The problem now will be finding witnesses to lay out the scenario that led to the murder.

As for the victim, he will go into the books as Hamilton homicide #0052024.

Sadly, he will not be the last young person this summer to have his ticket punched: “Morgue.”

Police are asking anyone with information, security video or dashcam footage from the area during the early hours of Sunday morning to contact Det. Mike Ebert at 905-546-4167.

You can provide information anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun

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